GardenDesignOnline

Garden Book Outlook 2008

The internet is complicating efforts by publishers to boost publication of garden titles, according to the 2008 garden books outlook from Publishers Weekly.  PW says there's been an explosion of interest in gardening recently, but almost all the growth has been among young people under 35 years old, and they're mainly interested in "green" issues and natural landscapes. 

Storey Publishing President Pam Art told PW that "Perhaps not since the 1970s and the homesteading era has the interest been so great in gardening using ecologically sound methods, including having organic lawns and flower and vegetable gardens." Among Storey titles this year in tune with that theme are The Complete Compost Gardening Guide, The Veggie Gardener's Answer Book, and Five Plant Gardens (Sept).

Cool Springs Press publisher Roger Waynick agreed, saying young people are interested in gardening because it's a way of "nurturing the planet back to health."  At Rodale Lifestyle Books, senior editor Karen Bolesta said there is much enthusiasm for a "green lifestyle" that goes "hand-in-hand with organic gardening."

While most editors told PW that publishers need to turn to young people to start a market again in gardening books, some suggested publishing books with simple texts and lots of pictures while others said the focus should be on experienced authors and lots of visual material to compete with the internet.  Timber Press publisher Neil Maillet said he believes only a book can provide certain kinds of information. "The industry is adapting to provide a better reading experience for the generation coming up," he said.  "We still put our focus on finding the credible author who can give the reader reassurance that their money is well spent by buying a book rather than just Googling for free."

Some upcoming 2008 titles:

Wildlife Gardening All in One

Brooklyn Botanic Garden All-Region Guide

Author Janet Marinelli makes the case right up front:  "I've read a lot of wildlife gardening books over the years, and they are all big on generalities ... but distressingly short on useful specifics.  That's why I wrote this book," she says.

In The Wildlife Gardener's Guide (Brooklyn Botanic Garden, 2008), Marinelli gives you detailed instructions on how to attract birds, bees, butterflies, and beneficial insects into your garden.  In the chapter on bird gardens, she lets us know that in the eastern part of the country, at least 300 trees, shrubs, and vines are dependent on birds to pollinate the plants and disperse their seeds.

Helpful plant lists are included for each region of the country -- plants that will attract birds, bees, moths, bats, hummingbirds,and more.

One of my favorite chapters in this book  is on Stopover Gardens for Migrating Songbirds.  And these kinds of gardens are more necessary than ever, since developers have destroyed so much of their important habitat, all in the name of more shopping and unnecessary consumption. Marinelli points out that the US Fish and Wildlife Service now estimates 12 percent of neo-tropical songbird species are in peril, and the population of another 68 percent is on the decline.  So we all need to do whatever we can to create hedgerow habitats for migrating birds.  One example Marinelli outlines uses black and white oaks as the canopy, filled in underneath with flowering dogwoods, elderberry, chokeberry, sassafras,  native honeysuckle, arrowwood and wildflowers.

Other chapters lead you through the process of establishing an evergreen refuge for birds,  building flower borders to attract wildlife, container gardening and water for wildlife, and  how to build birdhouses for six birds that have suffered significant declines in population.

If you don't have this book already, you definitely need to buy it.

(click on image to purchase book through Amazon).

Happenings March 08

Selected US Events.

March 1-9 Home & Garden Show, Buffalo, NY
Buffalo Convention Center
March 2-9, Philadelphia Flower Show, Philadelphia, PA
"Jazz It Up," PA Convention Center (215) 988-8899
March 6, "Peru: Landscapes & People," Swarthmore, PA
noon-1PM, Lecture by Scott Arboretum Director Claire Sawyers, Lang Performing Arts Center (610) 328-8025
March 6-8 Annual Conference, Ecological Landscape Assn, Springfield, MA
Mass Mutual Center, "Re-visioning the Landscape." (617) 436-5838
March 7 Green Roofs Symposium, Bronx, NY
10AM-5:15 PM, The Basics of Green Roof Design & Construction
NY Botanical Garden 800-322-6924
March 7-9 2008 Midwest Gardening Symposium, Lisle, IL
Morton Arboretum, "Innovation in the Garden," 630-961-0074
March 7-9 Central Florida Home & Garden Show, Orlando, FL
Orange County Convention Center
March 8-16 New England Spring Flower Show, Boston, MA
Bayside Expo Center, Boston 617-933-4900
March 8-16, 14th Chicagoland Flower & Garden Show, Rosemont, IL
Donald E. Stephens Convention Center (773) 435-1250
March 8-April 13, 24th Annual Dallas Blooms, Dallas, TX
Dallas Arboretum, Southwest's largest outdoor floral festival. 400,000 bulbs, 3000 azaleas, 100,000 annuals & much more 214-515-6500
March 10, Landscape Design Lecture, Charleston, SC
6:30 PM, Designer Jane Bath, Charleston Horticultural Society 843-579-9922
March 12-16 San Francisco Flower & Garden Show, San Francisco, CA
Cow Palace, "Make Life Beautiful." (206) 789-5333
March 12-16 Canada Blooms, Toronto, CA
Annual Flower & Garden Festival
March 13-16 Flower & Garden Show , Rochester, NY
17th annual "Gardenscape," Dome Center
March 13-16 Home & Garden Show, Washington DC
Washington Convention Center info: (703) 823-7960
March 14 "Small Buildings, Small Gardens," Kennett Square, PA
7PM, Lecture by designer Gordon Hayward, Longwood Gardens (610) 388-1000 ext 559
March 15 Garden Design Workshop, Kennett Square, PA
9AM-3PM, Designer Gordon Hayward explores paths, plant combinations & more, Longwood Gardens, (610) 388-1000 ext. 559
March 17 "History of Gardening in the US," San Francisco, CA.
7:15PM, Lecture by Jennifer Rose Carey, Director of Landscape Architecture at Temple University, Ambler, PA.  County Fair Building, SF Botanical Garden 415-566-5222
March 18 "Asters for American Gardens," Atlanta, GA
7:30PM Lecture  by Jeanne Frett of the Mt. Cuba Center in Greenville, DE. McElreath Hall, Atlanta History Center. (404) 636-1119
March 19, Emerald Ash Borer Research Seminar, Lisle, IL
8:30AM-4PM, Morton Arboretum 630-961-0074
March 20, Natural Landscapes Symposium, Valhall, NY
8:30AM-4PM, The Native Plant Center, Westchester Community College 914-606-7870. CEU's avail.for landscape architects & designers
March 27-30 Flower & Garden Show, Kansas City, MO
Kansas City Convention Center 816-942-8800
March 29 "Native Plants: Cultivars Considered," Washington DC
8:30AM-3:30PM, 22nd Annual Lahr Symposium, US National Arboretum
Top US experts discuss the rapid expansion of native plant cultivars.
202-245-5898

Butterflies Year-Round

No need to wait for those special butterfly shows any more -- The Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History in Washington DC has opened a permanent exhibit on butterflies and plants.

"Butterflies + Plants: Partners in Evolution" takes visitors on a journey of millions of years to demonstrate how butterflies and plants have evolved together.  For example, moths originally chewed their food with small "teeth," and butterflies over time have developed colors that enable them to hide from predators.

Nate Irwin, the exhibit manager, says "Co-evolution tells us that all species -- even humans -- play a role in the evolution of the natural community. With the knowledge that 99 percent of all species that inhabited the Earth are now extinct, it is important that we all gain a better understanding of nature's complexity in order to conserve life as we know it today."

The exhibit's Live Butterfly Pavilion will feature more than 300-400 butterflies at any one time, interacting with different plants like jasmine, pentas, verbena, clerodendron, and many more.  New butterflies will be introduced each week from Africa, Asia, and the Americas, so visitors are likely to see different species each time they visit. Just a few of the species that will be on display include clippers, morphos, owls, grey pansies, common sailors, blue glassy tigers, monarchs, tree nymphs, birdwings, queens and many others.

(image: Marilyn Aber, Smithsonian Institution)

Big Easy Up North

Philly Flower Show:  March 2-9

If you can't make it to New Orleans any time soon, pop around to Philadelphia for this year's 179th Flower Show. This year's theme, "Jazz It Up," transports visitors directly to Bourbon Street.  Jazz bands, courtyard gardens, tropical flowers, full sized palm trees, and French Quarter architectural features are just a few of the highlights of this year's show.

Flower show designer Sam Leheney says there's a definite tie between gardening and music. "The Philadelphia Flower Show should transform how you think about gardening the way jazz transformed music," he says.  "You should go home loaded with ideas and not be afraid to do something different ... Your garden is your own space and should reflect your personality. That is what jazz is about, too."

According to Leheney, this year's show is packed with ideas for small-space gardening: balconies, hanging baskets, small courtyards featuring plants with great variation in height and texture. In addition, show exhibitors are picking up the theme with a bayou garden, a juke joint in the woods, and lots of Spanish moss, subtropicals, and other show stopping plants.

From New Orleans, Big Sam's Funky Nation will perform daily, along with students from the Settlement Music School.  And if  your timing is right, you can join the musicians for a Second Line Stroll winding through the exhibit hall.

(images: provided by PHS)

Tracking Climate Change

Volunteer for Project BudBurst

This nationwide effort to track climate change begins February 15th -- so join the effort in your own backyard.  All you need to do is observe when flowers and foliage appear in your region -- and report your findings online. 

The project is sponsored by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) in cooperation with The Chicago Botanic Garden and the University of Montana with a grant from the US Bureau of Land Management and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

In a pilot project last year, several thousand volunteers recorded the timing of leaf-out and the appearance of flowers for hundreds of plant species in 26 states.   The project is now operating throughout the year to account for early and late blooming species in different parts of the United States. 

UCAR's Project Coordinator Sandra Henderson says that "climate change may be affecting our backyards and communities in ways that we don't even notice. Project BudBurst is designed to help both adults and children understand the changing relationship among climate, seasons, and plants, while giving the participants the tools to communicate their observations to others." 

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change , 20-30 percent of all plant and animal species could be at risk of extinction if global temperatures rise this century by 2.7 to 4.5 degrees F.

For complete information on how to participate in this important study, go to www.budburst.org

(image of wild Cinquefoil © UCAR, Photo by Carlye Calvin)

Feb Event Additions

Feb 16 Garden Tour & Plant Sale, San Diego, CA.
Tour three gardens in Kearny Mesa
Feb 20-24 Yard, Garden & Patio Show, Portland, OR
Portland Convention Center (503) 246-8291
Feb 21-24 Capital Home & Garden Show, Chantilly, VA
Dulles Expo Center. Exhibits, vendors, demos, HGTV's Joshua Foss & Shane Tallant (703) 378-0910
Feb 22-24 Peninsula Home & Garden Show, San Mateo, CA
San Mateo Event Center (650) 574-3247
Feb 27-March 2 Home & Garden Show, Minneapolis, MN
Minneapolis Convention Center
Feb 29-March 2 Home & Garden Show Colorado Springs, CO
Phil Long Expo Center
Feb 29-March 2, 23rd Annual Home & Garden Show, Del Mar, CA.
Del Mar Fairgrounds (858) 350-3738

The Huntington's New Chinese Garden

Chinese Garden Opens February 23

Just in time for spring, the Garden of Flowering Fragrance, Liu Fang Yuan, at The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, CA, opens to the public later this month. And this 3.5 acre garden is just the first phase in a project that will eventually span an area almost four times as large.

More than 10 years in the making, the Chinese garden reflects traditional Suzhou-style scholar gardens, complete with a lake, pavilions, a tea house and tea shop, and several hand-carved stone bridges.

In the Spring/Summer 2007 issue of Huntington Frontiers, Chinese garden curator T. June Li noted that the term liu fang, flowing fragrance, was first used by Chinese writer Cao Zhi (192-232) in his Rhapsody on the Luo River Goddess. Cao describes a goddess walking through clumps of scented plants and releasing their scents, and Li says this "perfectly characterizes the sensory delight of botanical aromas that permeate the Chinese garden." At The Huntington, she says, "the fragrance of pine trees, plums, and lotus, among many plants, commingle and drift subtly over the waters of the lake, spreading throughout the garden."

In the past two years, expert artisans from China arrived to install the bridges, place sculptural "scholar rocks" around the lake, and work on the pavilions, which have intricate wood carvings and tiled roofs. Steven Koblik, president of The Huntington, said it has been an "amazing project" in every respect.  "From the challenges of creating authentic Chinese structures within the parameters of California's seismic codes to the unprecedented international fund raising initiative ... I've never experienced anything quite like it," he said.

Brazilian Landscapes

Dr. Jules Bruck, Asst. Professor of Landscape Design at the University of Delaware, recently took a group of students to Brazil to study  Brazilian landscapes -- including many designed by Roberto Burle Marx, one of the 20th century's most celebrated landscape architects.  Check out their blog - which includes many pictures of Brazilian flora, Burle Marx designs, gardens, and tropical landscapes. 

Clematis for Small Gardens

The first time I ever really noticed clematis was during the time I lived in England.  In early spring, there was no way you could miss the Clematis montana var. rubens that covered one entire side of 3-story brick townhouse just a few blocks away from my house. And have you ever seen clematis growing through trees in the United States?  In Britain, clematis are often planted to climb through lilacs  -- varieties that will bloom after the lilac flowers have faded.

In his new book, Clematis for Small Spaces (Timber Press, 2008), the renowned British clematis breeder Raymond Evison shares his vast knowledge about which vines are best for climbing trees and shrubs, which ones are suitable for walls and fences, at the back of the border, scrambling around at ground level, growing up on tripods or in containers.

Evison concentrates on 150 cultivars that are easy to grow and disease resistant, with the largest blooms and longest flowering periods. They are all suited for smaller gardens, from tiny townhouse patios to suburban settings.  Each clematis is described in detail, with information on size, color, leaf description, and hardiness zone.

Throughout the book, Evison recommends companion plants for each type of clematis and how to plant them for greatest effect.  For examples, he says Clematis 'Mrs. George Jackman' works well with the open framework of Camellia sasanqua, and Cotinus coggygria 'Royal Purple' looks great with purple Clematis 'Royal Velours' or the nodding pink flowers of C. CONFETTI 'Evipoo36.'

There are separate chapters on cultivation, propagation, and yes -- pruning.  It's always hard to remember exactly which clematis falls into which pruning group -- but this book has handy lists of each to help you keep things straight.

There are beautiful photos of many featured species that will make it hard for anyone to decide which ones to acquire.  This is an extremely useful book that every designer should have on the reference shelf.

(click on image to purchase book)